Hi, I have a 70' Buick Skylark 350 and I'm still 15. My dad and I took out the engine because when it was still in, we took off the headers, timing cover, and oil pan. The timing gear is all broken (we will replace it), and there was a LOT of guck in the header area. My dad and I thought about taking it out to clean the crankshaft and rod oil passages from the guck that had the nylon pieces from the timing gear in it. (it was also in the oil pump). My question is, is it neccesary to take out the crankshaft and pistons? I thought it would be a good idea to change the rings too. So, I'm not sure what to do now. Thanks for any advice. If you need more info, just tel me. SEWWES
If you already have the engine out and half disassembled then I would finish the job. Tear it down, send the block out to have it cleaned up. If it needs any machining, this is the time to do it. Then new rings and bearings, new timing chain and gears, a new or rebuilt oil pump, and a new water pump. All new gaskets and some tender loving care during reassembly and you should be good to go. Good Luck! By the way, what is your first name so we know to whom we are talking.
I would think that the only way pieces of the destroyed nylon gear would make it into the oil pump is if the pick-up in the oil pan was compromised. At this point, you should probably tear it down all the way.
The wierd thing is that the oil screen in the oil pan had a plastic flap, which i belive most of the junk went through, there was nylon in the oil pan too. I'm not sure if a rebuild is neccesary because the car only has 55 thousand original miles, should I still consider rebuild? Oh, by the way, my name is Slawek(its polish, pronounced "slavic") Thanks for replying.
The problem with not tearing it down completely is what you cannot see, not what you have already found. Why did the gear fail and what is inside the oil passages and bearings. What was the motor doing before it quit? Did a lifter or valve spring go bad? Does it have bent valves, broken rings, etc? The only way you can ever trust this motor is to take it down to the bare block and start over. JMHO.
Nylon gears were legendary for self-destructing. My 69 350 had its old gear in pieces in the oil pan. I replaced the chain and extracted all the nylon when I changed the rear seal. No troubles cause of it, but the nylon pieces never made it into the engine either.
The motor ran b4 we took it out. The reason we took it out is to clean it. are there openings that allow you to clean out the bearings and crankshaft?
An altrnative solution would to be a low mile stock 350. Because most Buick guys upgrade to a 455, the 350's are plentiful. They are virtually free and run well in stock form. Save yourself a bunch of dough and find a nice used granny 2BL 350. Put your speed pieces on that motor and call it good. I believe Jason from BOP Connection can provide you a good core. I think he may even deliver. Look BOP Connection up and see what he says. Good Luck
Why should i buy a used engine, if this one works, just need to clean it, a guy at Auto Zone reccomended to do this; clean whatever you can with the engine out, put it in, run it with oil+engine cleaner for 5 minuties so most of the nylon gets to the oil pan. Then change the oil and we should be fine. Changing to a 455 would be awesome, but i dont think my dad will consider it( unless i find a cheap one). Do you guys think that what the Auto Zone guy is a good idea?
Hey, try saving your 350 and see what happens. If it blows up you can safely assume it was bad. Then do what Stagedcoach said and get another on the cheap. Good luck!
If it got into the pump it likely got caught by the oil filter and didn't go any further. Nylon timing gears normally self destruct by themselves. If you want to take a chance, replace your chain and gear and remove and clean (or replace) the oil pump. Make sure the pick up tube is ok, if not replace it or you'll ruin your new oil pump. A word of advice coming from 25 years of Buick experience here, anytime I tried taking a shortcut where motorwork is concerned, more often than not I ended up doing it all over again the right way the second time. You can flush an engine by adding 1 qt. of kerosene to the oil and letting it IDLE for 5 minutes then change the oil and filter. Do that after fixing the timing chain and oil pump. I do that before disassembling a motor for repair. Makes for less cleaning.:Smarty:
Thanks for advice, we already have new timing gears, screen and oil pump rebuild kit (none of it installed yet). Another reason we took out the engine is that, we started it and there was no oil coming out of the pump. The previous owner,(my uncle) said that the oil filter exploded. If you know anything about that please write. A bit off the subject but, would i have to change the trans. when going to a 455? Thanks
That car probably has a turbo 350, and the massive torque from a 455 will destroy it in a very short time. The oil filter exploded because it was probably plugged with peices of timing gear. Be sure to pack the new pump with vaseline before installing it to prime it.:Smarty:
Slawek, I was thinking about this one. If the filter exploded, your oil passeges MUST be plugged. Better rebuilt it, and have it cleaned. There should be a bypass valve under the oil filter so in case it gets plugged, the engine still gets oil. Dirty oil is better than no oil at all. All that crap that got sucked through your oil pump and plugged your filter went through the bypass hole and into the oil passages, plugging them and causing your filter to explode. I'd opt for the used 350 if I were you.:Smarty:
